Of all the organs, breasts are the most exposed to cancer. In France, one-third of malignant tumors diagnosed in women, amounting to over 60,000 per year, are located in the breasts. The risk of developing this condition, which is the leading cause of cancer-related death in women, depends on a combination of factors, including age, personal and family history, and lifestyle.

The role of one's level of education – and by extension, of one's socioeconomic status – in breast cancer risk has been the subject of a large-scale study, the results of which were published in early April in the International Journal of Cancer. Margherita Pizzato, from the University of Milan, Italy and the International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, as well as her colleagues followed nearly 312,000 women living in nine European countries (including France) who were part of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort between 1991 and 2000. The participants, recruited from the general population, were aged 35 to 70 years at the start of the study and had never had cancer. Among them, just over 14,400 were diagnosed with breast cancer during the average 14-year follow-up period, which ended between 2004 and 2010, depending on the center.

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